Tourists from as far off as New York, London and The Netherlands had purchased tickets to F.A.W.C online, while Auckland and Wellington proved popular domestic markets.
Worldwide media representatives also descended on Hawke's Bay to be wined and dined, with the aim of promoting future events and cementing our region as a "must see" wine and food destination. Among them are The Huffington Post from London, Canadian Living magazine, German publication The Rhein Main Presse, The Daily Meal (US), Madison magazine from Australia and New Zealand's Cuisine magazine.
"It's about putting Hawke's Bay on the map. We have got some pretty influential journalists coming, so that's future proofing and putting building blocks in place for coming years. This is not just a one hit wonder," Ms Dundas said.
Mangapapa Petit Hotel, one of the recommended accommodation venues on the official F.A.W.C. website, had seen a huge bookings increase, thanks to the event.
"A lot of the people who are staying the weekend, stayed [Thursday] night through to Monday, the following weekend is the same," the hotel's general manager, Catherine Hobbs-Turner, said.
"It's been absolutely massive for us: The hits we have had since appearing on the website have been massive, not just over the next 10 days but in the months before and after, too. The number of people we have had through just blew us out of the water."
An increased number of guests was not only a plus for the hotel but the wider community, she said.
"It's not just the boutique places like us who benefit, these people are staying four or five nights and they're spending money."
Tukituki MP Craig Foss agreed F.A.W.C. was a quality event which was supporting the local economy: "This is exactly what we needed to do, taking a gap in the event calendar and filling it up. It's not just the initial spend, it's about visitors going home and buying Hawke's Bay produce and coming back."
Launch party host John Hawkesby said Hawke's Bay was New Zealand's most versatile wine region and the food basket, yet this was the first time they had been packaged together.
"What I want to know is, what took you so long?" he said. "In a hundred years they will say at the first one we had 300 people and now we have 3.6 million."
He marvelled at the many events, especially today's Syrah at Elephant Hill with John Hawkesby.
"If you aren't in Hawke's Bay this weekend you're a friggin' mutant."